


the part of the brain also known as

by ninetwothrees



Category: SHINee
Genre: Canon Universe, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Onew-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-13 22:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5719852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninetwothrees/pseuds/ninetwothrees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oh well<i>, Jinki tried to remind himself</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the part of the brain also known as

**Author's Note:**

> warnings: smoking (which isn't treated as a Problem), canon inconsistency, unbeta'd
> 
> set ~sometime back when kibum still lived at the dorm, i guess?? but, see above, incidental canon inconsistencies and all ^^;

Being a leader of a top-tier idol group in their country has its advantages, Jinki knows. Supposes. Vaguely remembers being told by the management when they were trying to sell the idea to him before the debut, as if he had any say in the matter.

Jinki isn't a complainer, though. He takes the downfalls of the position in stride, to such extent that whenever his members’ awareness of his situation becomes apparent, whether in small gestures of care or off-hand expressions of concern, he's as surprised by their worry as they are by his lack of it. The role of a leader is so intrinsic to his being that he doesn't spare it a second thought anymore (in relation to how _he_ feels about it anyway; second-guessing the effects of his leadership on the others is a habit he can't let go. It's like another responsibility that came with the duty).

Still, one thing remains acutely obvious to him, not buried in the depths of _oh well_.

 

There was the day they were given a floor plan to the promised land of a brand new dorm, which meant the long awaited room distribution would replace the bed distribution they had to put up with in the small room that was their previous shared bedroom.

“I want this single,” Kibum announced after studying the piece of paper for about five seconds, sticking his index finger on the blueprint of his desired location.

“Can we take this one?” Taemin pointed at the bigger of two double rooms, throwing a questioning look at Jinki and subsequently Jonghyun, who followed up with a glance at Jinki as well. Jinki nodded. They had discussed previously that since Jonghyun and Taemin were planning to reside with their families most of the time now that they were allowed to, it would be practical to pair them up for when they stayed at the dorm. (Jinki didn't voice the crack in logic of claiming the biggest room when it wasn't going to be used much anyway.)

“Hyung?” Minho finally turned to Jinki, passing the lead onto him.

He made the calculations in his head: Jonghyun and Taemin took a double, Kibum got a single, another single and another double remained, which meant…

As if on cue, manager hyung popped out seemingly out of nowhere and threw his arm around Jinki, a reminder that it wasn't quite up to him after all. Jinki was used to to his scope of decision-making being limited. He didn't object to that part of the deal, actually, and introduced such practice even in situations where he could easily play the leader card.

He assumed hyung would snatch the remaining single for himself, but then - “Let's give the kid some space,” hyung grinned at Minho before addressing Jinki again. “What do you say, roommies? He sleeps most of the time in hotels anyway,” he turned to the rest, who were clearly collectively taken aback by this plot twist. “Works for me.”

“Sheesh, this ahjussi,” Kibum said. “Just how lonely are you?”

“You know,” Minho spoke up with a slight frown, preventing any bickering that might have ensued between Kibum and hyung, “I heard Infinite decide rooms by rock-paper-scissors.”

“Yah.” Kibum glared at him. “ _I_ heard that's not working out so well.”

Whether this all-too convenient anecdote held true or not, Minho didn't press when Jinki, who’d already decided to oblige, didn't.

 

Sharing the room with hyung wasn't much of an issue - Jinki resigned himself to ending up in a double in any case, even though he would have welcomed the extra privacy of a single as anyone else, and he didn't have much preference between hyung, who was an amiable part of their everyday lives, and Minho. Plus, this result meant, as hyung noted, that Minho would get his own room. A win for Minho and no loss for Jinki.

No, hyung himself wasn't the issue. The concept, to Jinki’s grievances, was. It served as yet another reminder, a déjà vu of sorts, because it wasn't the first or the second time he found himself glued in a permanent spot next to a manager (whichever hyung was employed in the position over the years).

The travel routine started early on. “We'll go over the schedule on the plane, yeah?” And just like that, Jinki got seated next to a manager more often than not, until it became a given. Meanwhile, Kibum took to Jonghyun as his _airplane buddy_ (an actual term he coined), Minho happily embraced flights as his time with the maknae, and everyone settled into the arrangements over the time. It was convenient, almost reassuring, in the usual unpredictability of their lifestyle.

It only made sense that they would establish such unspoken habits in the question of hotel rooms as well. After some trial-and-error of Jonghyun being less than pleased by Kibum’s inability to keep whatever room he occupied adequately organized, apparently even during such short stays as theirs usually were, and putting Kibum with Minho wasn't an option back when things were still thorny between them, Kibum and Taemin reached a peaceful hotel room symbiosis, Jonghyun and Minho had their clean sanctuary, and Jinki… “Odd number of members, leader with me,” said the first of the line of manager hyungs, and that was it.

 _Oh well_ , Jinki tried to remind himself, but as Kibum's set of _buddy_ titles increased (once the tension between the ‘91-liners dissolved, Kibum dubbed Minho _chingu_ , a significant gesture as straightforward as it seemed), so did the uneasy allegory Jinki’s mind got stuck on: all the kids formed pairs and he always ended up with the teacher.

 

Flash-forward to the present with Jinki’s metaphorical teacher sleeping in the bed next to him every single night, and in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter. Jinki actively _oh well_ s it, even if his heart doesn't manage to be in it, but it's a background noise that only spikes up in specific situations at most.

At the moment, hyung is already asleep and a non-entity on Jinki’s mind, which is currently only focused on his phone and a midnight snack he couldn't resist - a midnight cigarette is in order after. Footsteps behind him, bare feet meeting the sticky floor, register his brain as Kibum taking a trip to the bathroom. A few minutes later they unexpectedly approach instead of heading back to bed.

“If you keep stalking my Instagram, you could at least make an account and give me _likes_ ,” Kibum’s voice cuts into the silence. He stops snooping over Jinki’s shoulder and sits at the table opposite him, absentmindedly putting a few of cereals from Jinki’s bowl into his mouth. (Jinki opted out on milk for some resemblance of a dietary discipline. It's a nice sight, even if Jinki attributes Kibum’s momentary lack of care over his much stricter discipline to his nocturnal state.)

He tilts his head. “Will you follow me if I do?” It's a playful question rather than a genuine inquiry; Kibum stays true to the exclusivity he's chosen to grant Woohyun by following him solely.

“Nope,” Kibum says, of course, but seems to ponder something before he adds, “I _might_ stalk you back, though.”

It's a fairly convincing argument. “I’d have to upload photos, then, wouldn't I?” Jinki says in mock-anxiety.

“That's the general idea,” Kibum nods, lazy sarcasm mixed with funny gravity in his mumbled tone. He pauses to think again. “Though you can't let fans bully you into doing shit.”

“Huh.” Jinki blinks at the unexpected piece of advice.

Kibum rises from the table. “Bye,” he murmurs, clearly at his limit for impromptu night-time chit-chats. It’s rather cute - Kibum is always the cutest when he’s sleepy or drunk (or both). Jinki almost feels bad for the fans who would love to see it but never will. Mostly he finds something comforting about the fact.

Jinki replays the conversation in his head as he watches the breeze carry the smoke away into the night sky beyond his vision.

 

“Say _cheese_ ,” Kibum springs on him and Jinki barely has time to decide to go with tradition and say _kimchi_ instead before their stylist noona flashes the camera and Kibum takes it over, shooting him a stern look. He doesn't comment though, only briefly explains. “Instagram update is way overdue.”

Jinki searches it later in the car after their schedules. He managed to pull his well practiced _kimchi_ selca face, the ill-formed smile, while Kibum’s style of the day was the intense stare-down he does sometimes, prompting a real smile from Jinki. He scrolls down to the comments, most in languages he can't understand, but the several ‘ _post Jonghyun_ ’s and ‘ _Jongkey please_ ’s as well as some ‘ _where's Taemin_ ’s stand out.

Oh well.

 

Another flight, little time to rest or explore the city awaiting in their destination, only this time the person who sits next to Jinki is decidedly not their manager hyung.

“They wanted to discuss his debut preparations,” Kibum informs him, raising his eyebrows. “How much more workaholic can they get? We’re on a plane, it’s not right.”

Jinki deduces _his_ referred to Taemin, whose upcoming debut plans have been at work these days, and _they_ meant Taemin and Jonghyun.

“Uh-huh,” he lets out, both to agree and because - “Last time I counted we had three workaholics on the team.”

Kibum looks past him. “Actually, can I take the window?” While they’re shuffling around to exchange the seats, he adds, “I do love work, but I know when to stop. _Work hard, play hard._ ”

“Fair enough,” Jinki concludes. “Two and a half workaholics.”

Kibum laughs shortly. “One could probably argue it's all five of us.”

“Probably.”

Kibum stares out of the window and then snaps back and raises the phone in his hands. “We can use this opportunity to upgrade your selca skills.”

“ _Work_ or _play_?”

Kibum considers the question before answering. “Both?”

“Both is the best.”

For the next few minutes, Jinki listens to Kibum’s instructions he would hardly categorize as _skills_ but given his own ineptitude in that area, maybe the term isn't entirely inaccurate, and they get an Instagram update out of it.

 

They’re in the waiting room, and Jinki is barely listening when Minho is recounting how he and Jinki made funny faces at each other during a performance, Jonghyun glaring and saying, “Playing without me again, are you?” Minho repays it with a “napping without me, are you?” once he finds them asleep on the couch later. Later that night Jinki sneaks out with Taemin on the roof for a cigarette to help him ease his nerves before the nearing solo debut, not without Kibum spotting them and judging with a “ _That's_ helpful, old man. Teach a _singer_ to smoke before his comeback.”

There is no big catharsis and it takes a slow, gradual process for Jinki to realize he had had a _thing_ with each member long before he started noticing the signs of new things blossoming around him, until he can't understand how his past self could dwell on such a non-issue, until he doesn't even recall having such a thought process at all, now with the fresh power of habit in place.

(He does create an Instagram account eventually, Kibum does not follow him back, and the _liking_ activity is entirely one-sided, but when Kibum grumbles, “Who's supposed to remember this username?” from his phone in Jinki's direction, he regrets nothing.)


End file.
